For Want of a Better
by xlookingoutx
Summary: When the enemy's power physically changes Serena, Darien, Luna, and Artemis, how will it effect the lives of their friends and their own? What will each discover in the process and what does the enemy have in mind?
1. The Change

**Hi everyone! I want to introduce to you my first Sailor Moon fic. This is more of an experiment than anything else, and if no one review it, then, well…**

**Anyway, please, enjoy!**

"What happened?" Rei asked somewhere in the room. Serena slowly opened her eyes, unaware of her surroundings, or the fact that she was in Lita's room. Lita suddenly came into view followed by Mina and Amy. Serena opened her eyes fully and sat up in the low bed.

"Oh, what happened you guys?" The Sailor scout leader asked while messaging her head. "And why does my head hurt?" She looked around a moment. "Are we in Lita's room?" The four scouts exchanged looks.

"We don't know what happened out there, Serena, but something funky is going on." Lita said.

"That's for sure." Ray chimed in. Serena sat up completely now, spotting her reflection in the mirror across the room.

She couldn't believe the sight.

Somehow, someway, she had completely transformed. Into the image of her future self.

Her face was older now, with eyes that held maturity and wisdom. Her hair ran even longer than it had and, despite her being seated, one could tell she had grown a few inches. Serena slid off the bed and crawled to the mirror, a sight quite unusual to the other girls of their queen.

"I look…"

"Like Queen Serenity." Mina finished. The four scouts stood in amazement, breaths in their throats, as the queen gazed at her reflection. The door clicked open and another familiarly unfamiliar figure stepped into the room.

"Serena?" Her heart skipped a beat.

Darien stood taller and even more handsome than before, _if that's even possible_, Serena thought. His eyes, too, held a look of maturity and wisdom, though they had always held it to some extent. They gazed at each other in both amazement and wonder. Someone behind him sucked in her breath sharply.

"Mama!" Rini sped forward, throwing her arms around Serena, both of them toppling to the floor. "I missed you mama!" Serena sat still for a moment, stunned at the young girls emotion, until she relaxed and returned the hug.

"I missed you too, Small Lady."

"What's going on in here?" Artemis' voice rang out behind Darien, whose gaze was settled on his transformed girlfriend.

"Luna! Artemis!" Serena gasped.

They stood, side by side, on two feet, with two arms, a head, and long windswept hair. They had transformed into humans.

"The enemy did this to us when all of us tried to save you, princess, er, I mean, queen." Artemis explained.

"The _enemy_?" Serena asked, Rini latched to her neck.

"Yes, they appeared to have used a very large source of power to change us." Luna's long wavy hair twisted slightly as she talked and her crescent was vividly pronounced on her forehead. "We haven't figured a way to reverse it yet." The room went very quiet and only the soft breaths of everyone in the room could be heard. Rini suddenly nestled her face into Serena's neck and yawned. Serena tightened her arms around the small child.

"We should go home, but, oh!, there's no home to go to! What are we going to do?" Serena whined, though not as severely as normal. Everyone looked at one another. Then there was a hum of murmuring.

"Well, she won't be able to go to school tomorrow."

"Lucky!"

"Where will they all stay? No one has room for all of them."

"What about Serena's parents? Surely they'll miss her."

"Or not. Maybe they'll look at is as a blessing."

"Rei!"

"I know!" Lita declared brightly. "Serena can stay with Darien and Luna and Artemis can stay with me!" The room went quiet as everyone thought.

"We can't possibly impose on you, Lita." Luna said.

"Oh, sure you can. Besides, I need some company here." Lita said brightly. Everyone turned to Darien.

"What about Serena's parents?" More silence.

"Maybe Rini could use the same magic she used for herself on Serena's parents." Ami suggested. "You know, hypnotizing them." The room's attention shifted to the sleeping Rini in Serena's arms.

"How did she manage to fall asleep?" Mina wondered. Serenity stood.

"We should go to sleep soon." There was a sudden quality to the queen's voice that held the power to dictate events around her. Maybe it was her new height, or perhaps her enhanced looks, but Serena felt an odd commanding presence within her, one that gave her the knowledge of the responsibility she obtained as queen.

"I think that's an excellent idea, Lita. Luna and Artemis will stay here and Rini and I can go to Darien's." Serena gazed at the sleeping Rini as she said this, in a dreamy way, as if half aware of where she was. Not a care in the world floated around her petite frame as she glided out of the room with a murmured goodnight to the other girls. Behind her everyone kicked into gear, especially Rei, who began commanding everyone to their proper roles in the situation. Darien ran out after Serenity.

"Serena, are you feeling alright?" He asked worrisomely. Serena turned her head.

"Why wouldn't I be, Darien?" She asked.

"Well, I don't know, you just suddenly- it only seemed…" He stopped talking when he noticed the serene glaze to her eyes. She was gazing at Rini again, a look of wonder and amazement to her face. Darien smiled softly.

"C'mon. Let's go home.

**Please, tell me what you think!**


	2. New Responsibilities

**The forgotten disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon!**

**Note: The first word of every new scene in the story is put in bold, because I don't know how to separate them otherwise. I hope it helps you!**

**The** next morning came quickly and full of new light. Darien raised his arms over his head and let out a large yawn, whereupon he noticed the empty bed. He scratched his head and made his way to the kitchen. What he saw there was phenomenal.

Rini sat on a stool at the counter chomping merrily away on a very large stack of pancakes. Serenity stood behind the counter, oven mitt in hand, flipping several others on the stove.

"Serena…?" Darien wondered aloud. Rini looked up, a beautiful glow in her face.

"Papa!" She yelled before hopping down from the stool and sprinting to meet her father. He embraced her lovingly, as if there were nothing to it, and set her down gently.

"Darien! Here, I made you some breakfast." Serena presented him with a full stack of pancakes that, he had to admit, looked absolutely delicious.

"Try them, papa, they're really good." Rini encouraged. He did and they were.

"What are you two doing up so early?" Darien asked through his food.

"Well," Serenity began, "I had so much nervous energy that I decided to wake up and take Rini to school." She hopped enthusiastically.

"I'm so happy you guys are here. I've missed you." Rini smiled widely: an angel's face.

"We've missed you too, Rini." Serena said softly, her heart melting at the small child. "Now go get dressed, or you're going to be late for school!" Rini sprinted off, happy to have her real mother telling her what to do.

"Since when are you excited for school?" Darien asked his girlfriend. She stuck her nose in the air.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She sniffed. He smiled slightly and went back to the pancakes this strange, new Serena had prepared.

"**Mama**," Rini complained. "School is the _other_ way!"

The new family walked down the empty street to Serena's house. She needed Rini to hypnotize her parents, and sooner was better than later.

"I know Rini, but we need you to do this one little thing, and then you can go to school." Serenity told her daughter. The young girl huffed. At this rate, there wouldn't be any time to show off mama and papa to her friends!

_Ding dong. _

They were standing at the door now, and could hear the _pat pat_ of feet on the other side. The door opened.

"Yes…?" Serena's mother answered. Her father was standing behind her with a suit on and a briefcase in hand, ready to go to work. They looked awestruck at the tall couple.

"Hi!" Rini said brightly. "I wanted to say goodbye before I went with mama and papa."

"We're Rini's parents." Darien said.

Serena watched closely as her parent's faces changed. Oh, she was going to miss them a little over the next few… however long it took to fix this problem. She just hoped this hypnotizing thing worked.

"You remember us, don't you?" Serenity asked pleasantly. Rini, who had gotten her umbrella out, swirled it, forcing the older couple into a dazed, trance-like speech.

"Oh, yes, I remember you. Rini was such a pleasure to have. You should send her over more often."

"Thank you for taking care of her. We hope to see you more in the future." Serenity said, sincerely hoping that she would.

"Of course. Come back soon." The trio started back down the steps and into the street, Rini waving happily behind. Serenity gazed soulfully into her parent's eyes before the door separated and severed their last link.

"Now come _on_! School's about to start!" Rini called, running down the street.

"Rini, wait!" Serenity called, but the girl kept running. Serenity and Darien were left to chase after their daughter, huffing in the brilliant sunlight.

**Serena** was no longer enthusiastic about school. Rini had forced them running all the long way to her school, no easy feat for someone as physically un-adept as Serena. She was clutching her ribs and breathing hard by the time she caught up to the fast moving youngster. Even Darien was panting slightly.

And school didn't start for another ten minutes.

"Rini, what did you-" Darien began, but she was off again! Heading towards a small group of four (presumed) friends across the playground.

"Meet my mommy and daddy." Rini said proudly. The group looked up in awe at the tired parents.

"Wow…" One child sporting a short cut remarked. Rini beamed.

"If you want, you can all come over afterschool today and my mommy can make us all some sweets. She's a _great_ cook!" Rini told her friends.

"Uh, Rini, I don't know if that's the best-" Darien started to say, but the kids enthusiastic yells stopped him.

"Yeah!" The short-haired kid said. A girl about Rini's height jumped a little at the idea. The other two high-fived.

Darien and Serena groaned, Serena almost whimpering. More kids were the last thing they needed at a time like this!

**Across** town, Luna and Artemis were sitting fully awake on Lita's couch as they watched her speed across the room to get ready for school.

"I'm really sorry to be rushing like this, guys." Lita apologized as she struggled to put on her right shoe and balance three textbooks at the same time. She hopped toward her school bag. "There's lots of food in the fridge, so feel free to take as much as you like. The TV should be working, though I'm not so sure about channel three. I'll try to make it back home as soon as I can." She grabbed her bag and stuffed a piece of toast in her mouth while moving out the door. She waved with her free hand with a muffled,"g'bye" before the door clicked closed.

Artemis sighed. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I think I'll help myself to that food Lita was talking about."

"Oh, Artemis." Luna said, rolling her eyes.

"What?" He asked.

"We have bigger issues to concern ourselves with." Luna, now a beautiful woman, stood up and made her way to the door. Artemis was momentarily taken by the way Luna's dark, long wavy hair shone in the fluorescent lighting of the apartment. He wondered briefly what it would look like outside. "Right now the girls need our help, and it is our job to do it." She finished dutifully. Artemis looked put out.

"Fine, fine, where should we start?" The man asked. Luna turned to him and couldn't help but silently note the nice way his deep eyes looked up at her.

"I think we should stop by Darien's. They are most likely to be there." Luna said. Artemis stood up and made his way to the door, which Luna had already exited and left behind.

**Serenity** and Darien waved at the last glimpse of Rini before the doors to the school closed and blocked the couple's view. Serenity turned around to face the street.

"We should go to Lita's, where Luna and Artemis are. Maybe they already have something figured out." Serenity said hopefully.

They set off down the street, arm in arm.

**How was it? Please let me know if anything sounded shaky or off beat to you; I really want this to be as good as it can be!**

**Adding to that, please review! It makes me **_**so**_** happy to see your comments/concerns. **

**Oh, and as to the next chapter, we'll be seeing a few new characters.**


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